The present invention relates to a buoyant element. More specifically, the present invention relates to a buoyant element with integral male and female connectors for axially connecting adjacent elements together either linearly or orthogonally.
Various buoyant elements are known. For example:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,409,921 “Floating inspection platform” and U.S. Pat. No. 4,798,169 “Plant for fish farming in the open sea” describe hexagonal structures comprising a series of floating elements with sides angled at 60°;
U.S. Pat. No. 7,182,034 “Offshore floating dock” illustrates trapezoidal elements with sides angled at 15° from the orthogonal spanning the parallel sides;
U.S. Pat. No. 6,381,792 “Modular foam floating bridge” illustrates trapezoidal elements with sides angled at 35° from the orthogonal spanning the parallel sides. Furthermore, according to the description at column 3, line 21: “[the plane of each end piece has] an acute angle on the order of 30° and 60° . . . ”; and
EP1,280,695 “Temporary floatation stabilization device and method” illustrates trapezoidal pontoons with ends angled at 45° such that, if connected end-to-end, the pontoons would form a square.
It is an object of the present invention is to provide a buoyant element that is modular, homogeneous and includes integral means for connecting adjacent buoyant elements together.